


What Lies Below

by lemonlush



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Action & Romance, Adventure & Romance, Atlantis, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Mermaids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:07:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24422503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemonlush/pseuds/lemonlush
Summary: "You won't find it," he continued, unperturbed. "You think you're the first ones to come here looking for Atlantis? Hardly," he scoffed. "You should just go home.""Yeah?" she bit back, now more than a little annoyed with this rude stranger. "And what makes you so sure we won't?"He just smirked and turned away from her."Just am. Go home while you still can, Kagome."
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome/InuYasha
Comments: 42
Kudos: 86





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thunderpot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thunderpot/gifts).



**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. The rest is mine.**

* * *

**Summary:**

"You won't find it," he continued, unperturbed. "You think you're the first ones to come here looking for Atlantis? Hardly," he scoffed. "You should just go home."

"Yeah?" she bit back, now more than a little annoyed with this rude stranger. "And what makes you so sure we won't?"

He just smirked and turned away from her.

"Just am. Go home while you still can, Kagome."

* * *

Chapter 1

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Kagome paused, adjusting the strap on her purse as she looked up from the trash can. It was a lovely day - the salty ocean air filled her nostrils, and the warm sun caressed the tanned skin of her exposed back. A gentle breeze ruffled her midnight tresses, and she nervously tucked a strand behind her ear. His accent was thick and indiscernible. Not quite Grecian...but...something more. Mysterious.

"Excuse you?" she replied, confused by the man before her. He had long, thick, inky hair and deep, cerulean eyes with just a fleck of gold in the left iris. His body was lean - his muscles ropy, as if he were an experienced swimmer.

That made sense, given that this was an island over a hundred miles away from Santorini. There was nothing but vivid blue seas for miles.

She had been getting lunch with Sango - her fellow colleague, researcher, and best friend - when this man had just…come up to her out of nowhere!

"That dive you're planning to do with your friend," he continued, his eyes serious. "You shouldn't do it."

"Were you listening in on us?" she replied incredulously as she took a step back, away from him.

"Kinda hard to not," he shrugged dismissively. "You're rather loud."

" _Excuse you?_ " she repeated, trying to not let him grate her nerves. She didn't know who the hell he thought he was, but he had no right telling her what she could or couldn't do. And, on top of that…how fucking rude is it to…to… _eavesdrop_ on a random stranger's conversation and then snidely comment on how loud they are!

"You won't find it," he continued, unperturbed. "You think you're the first ones to come here looking for Atlantis? Hardly," he scoffed. "You should just go home."

"Yeah?" she bit back, now more than a little annoyed with this rude stranger. "And what makes you so sure we won't?"

He just smirked and turned away from her.

"Just am. Go home while you still can, Kagome."

"That sounds like a threat," she yelled after him as he started walking away.

He paused, looking back over his shoulder at her.

"Not a threat. A warning. Take your friend and go home."

* * *

"Take your friend and go home," Kagome mumbled under her breath, slipping a tank top over her head as she thought back to earlier that day.

"Still upset, huh?" Sango commented, an amused smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"You weren't _there_ , Sagno," Kagome bit back as her friend squeezed a dab of toothpaste out onto the dry bristles of her frayed toothbrush. "He was so... _cocky_...and... _condescending!_ And! And! He was listening long enough to know _not only_ my name, _but also_ the fact that we're looking for Atlantis! _"_

Sango just rolled her eyes, allowing her friend to rant about this mystery man as she brushed her upper teeth, watching Kagome's arms wave around animatedly as she retold the story. Again. For the tenth time.

Kagome watched her friend pull her hair around to the side of her neck, leaning over the sink to spit the white foam of her toothpaste into it. "You're obsessing," Sango finally replied, pointing her toothbrush at her friend. "Men have, and always will, be condescending to us. We're treasure hunters, Kagome. Not teachers. This is a male dominated field. They are _always_ going to look down on us. Why do you suddenly care what this _one_ random guy thinks?"

"I _don't_ care what he thinks!" she shot back, pulling her hair into a bun on the top of her head. "I'm just... _pissed_ at him! He doesn't know us, and he's just...just _assuming_ that we can't do it? Who the hell does he think he is?!"

"No one," Sango sighed. "He's a no one you are spending way too much time and energy on. Forget him," she encouraged, beginning to brush her teeth again until a thought struck her. "Do you _like_ him?" she gasped, her words coming out garbled as she spoke around the toothbrush hanging limply from her mouth.

"O-of course not!" Kagome sputtered, brushing off her friend. "He was rude, and condescending, and-"

"-And attractive, and you haven't stopped talking about him like... _once_ since you got back. I think you have a thing for assholes," Sango smirked. Kagome reached out and grabbed a damp towel off of the rack and threw it at the other woman. Sango just laughed and caught it, chasing after Kagome as she stomped out of the cramped bathroom and into their small room, turning on the fan. Even at night, the humid air clung to them like a sticky sap.

"I do _not_ have a thing for assholes!"

"Yeah? Then what word would you use to describe Hojo?"

Kagome was silent for a beat before snapping back, "Cheater. I would describe him as a cheater."

"So...asshole?"

Kagome just glared back at her friend, her ire raising with each passing second.

"Listen, Kags...don't let this guy get in your head. You're a smart, strong, determined woman. We've ignored nay sayers all our lives. Why stop now?"

"I know," she sighed, thinking back to the serious look in the mystery man's hauntingly blue eyes...all blue, except for that one beautiful fleck of gold. She wondered why he had it. Genetics?

Sango was right.

She was spending far too much time focusing on this guy when she should be getting sleep.

* * *

"Fuck!" Kagome swore, sitting back down next to Sango on the bench in the small boat they had rented, peeling out of her wet suit. The sun had almost set, the last warm rays of light nearly hidden beyond the horizon. "I thought we would find more out there than that…"

Sango handed her friend a towel, raking her fingers through her hair to work out the knots in her long black tresses.

"Bad dive again, ladies?" their skipper, Miroku, asked in his thick Grecian accent. They would have preferred to have done this _without_ him, but unfortunately...he came with the boat.

"Yeah. I'm disappointed, too," Sango bemoaned, nodding as Kagome stood and ran the terrycloth towel over her wet body. Her skin puckered, turning into gooseflesh as a breeze swept over the ocean water and caressed her body.

"I'm not giving up hope yet. Everything we have researched so far has told us that the gate should be _here_."

"I know," Sango sighed. "Hey...did...did that place kinda give you chills?"

"Chills?" Kagome pressed, raising her leg onto the bench to dry it.

"Yeah...I don't know, Kags...I just...I felt _watched_ down there. I know it's crazy, but I swear it felt like something was watching our every move. Maybe we should...just...move on to the next site. This place is so creepy, anyway…"

Kagome just rolled her eyes. This place? Creepy? And what would be watching them? _Fish?_ She loved her friend dearly, but Sango was overreacting. It was a little unsettling looking around ruins, sure…but she didn't think for one second that it was _creepy_. Besides...they had planned to spend two more days exploring the area before moving on to the next spot.

"Nonsense," she soothed, tossing the towel back to her friend. "It's nothing we haven't seen a hundred times before. Our permit is good for a few more days...I think we should stick with the plan and head back first thing in the morning. Maybe breathing in all that air from the tanks got to you? I feel it in my _bones,_ Sango. This is the place. I just know it!"

Sango shot her an uncertain look, but just shook her head as Miroku moved inside the cabin, reappearing a second later with a bottle of champagne and three flutes.

"Enough of this! You are starting your adventure!" he grinned. "Why don't we pop some champagne in celebration? What do you say, ladies? It's a perfect night to drink a little bubbly at sunset! We can all get to know each other better, since we will be spending quite a bit of time together," he finished cheekily.

Sango just narrowed her eyes at the man and told him they were not interested in drinking at the moment. Instead, she sent him to turn on the ignition and begin the trip home. She hoped they could make it back before the sky completely blackened.

"Hey," Kagome soothed when they were alone again. "I promise...two more days. I'll be with you the whole time. Everything will be fine. It always is, right?"

"Yeah," she sighed, still unable to shake the eerie feeling that they were being watched.

Little did she know how right she was...nor did she notice the black-haired head poking out of the waves, watching the unwelcome explorers pull away from the site. Keen, blue eyes narrowed as they disappeared from sight, a single golden fleck glimmering in the last rays of light.

[(Thunderpot Tumblr)](https://thunderpot.tumblr.com/post/617850310848872448/idk-kags-i-felt-watched-down-there-maybe-we)

[(Thunderpot Pixiv)](https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/1847627)

* * *

The cool ocean waters surrounded her, the full body wet suit she wore to help keep her warm doing it's job as she continued to explore the ruins around her with Sango. Schools of brightly colored fish surrounded them, having made the coral and anemone living in the ruins their home. This was the last day at this site, and Kagome was trying to not feel discouraged as they swam deeper and deeper into them.

She tried to tell the little, nagging voice in her head to go away. The one telling her that she had been wrong...but she had a feeling in her gut. This was the place...she was certain of it! It just...it _had_ to be!

She motioned to Sango, using her hands to explain that she was going to check out a cave system they hadn't scoured yet. Sango motioned back that she understood, and Kagome left her friend to continue examining a small, broken stone column. She quickly swam to the cave in question, oblivious to a pair of intelligent, calculating, golden eyes watching her every move.

Her hair swirled around her with the undercurrent as she made her way into the system. Large stones covered the sea floor, and giant holes in the cavern's top shed light into the entrance and made her exploration a bit easier. Everything was tinted an almost aqua color as fragments of fractured light danced around her. Thick, sturdy arms of stone held up the cave in several places, and she absently wondered what kind of sea life lived in here.

She supposed it didn't really matter. She wasn't here to study the fish.

She was here for Atlantis.

For their knowledge and their power.

That's what she wanted.

Kagome began her exploration with the craggy surface of the cavern walls, thinking she perhaps might discover carvings on the side. A language or drawing...anything would suffice, in truth.

Unfortunately, per usual, she discovered nothing new.

She moved deeper into the cave when the entrance bore nothing of interest, unaware that she was no longer alone in her exploration.

The walls continued to bear nothing of interest so she turned her attention to the sea floor, hoping against all hope that perhaps...maybe...just maybe...something had been left behind by a civilization long gone. With each passing second, she could feel her heart giving way to disappointment as it became clearer and clearer that this might be yet another bust.

She had been _so sure_ this would be it, too. Maybe that was just...wistfulness. She didn't want it to be, but it was hard to deny. As the years passed, Atlantis was becoming more and more of a dream and less and less of a possibility. Still...she wasn't about to give up! That wasn't what Higurashis did. She was going to find Atlantis...she just _knew_ it!

Pleased with the little pep talk she had given herself, she ventured further into the cave as her shadow darted behind a thick column to remain hidden. Observing her from afar and in silence...praying that this latest nuisance would just...turn around.

Fortunately for Kagome, however, she didn't give up...

Instead, she took out her flashlight as she moved deeper into the system, shining it along the floor as well as the walls. She had made it perhaps a hundred feet or so inside the cave when light bounced off of something in the sand. Something...metallic? She assumed it was perhaps a wrapper of some sort as the ocean was filled with litter, and she decided to do the right thing and collect it. She could take it back to land to be disposed of properly.

Pleased with her decision, she swam over to the trash...and her brows knit together in confusion. The trash was deeply buried under the rocks and sand, and she found herself perplexed by how this could happen. She shrugged it off and swept her fingers over the debris, and suddenly felt her heart begin to pump faster in her chest.

This wasn't a piece of trash…

No.

It was long, had a thin, sharp edge, and was plainly made of metal.

She felt her heart race in her chest, unaware that another's was doing the same as she completely unearthed the object she had found.

She bit down harder on the regulator in her mouth as she squealed in surprise and excitement.

A _sword_. A sword with _Atlantian writing_ on it! This...this was the sign she had been looking for! She hastily grabbed it and swam out of the cave, her air almost depleted in her tank. She needed to grab Sango, head back to the boat, and show her the incredible find.

A _sword!_

Oh my fucking _god!_

This was better than anything she had hoped to find!

Well...that wasn't totally true. She had hoped to find Atlantis in these dark, murky depths...but _this_...this was everything she needed. It was something that renewed her hope. It was something that told her they were on the right track.

They were one step closer to finding _Atlantis!_

When Sango was within grabbing distance, she hastily took a hold of her friend's arm and tugged her away from a statue she had found. She then waved the sword in her friend's face, pointing at the writing.

Sango knew instantly.

An _Atlantian_ sword!

They swarm to the surface, climbing onto the boat with Miroku's help and removing their gear while squealing like idiots the whole time.

"Oh my god...Kagome!"

"I know!" she gushed, tearing her mask off. "I haven't even stopped to try and translate it yet...but...Sango…it's _beautiful_ ," she beamed.

"And...oddly well preserved...how did you find this?" Miroku asked, his brows furrowing in confusion as he looked at the artifact that girls were celebrating.

" _Where_ did you find this?" Sango pressed.

"In that last cave I went to! It wasn't _too_ deep in...but...just enough. I was almost about to give up, but...oh, _look at it!"_

"I am!" her friend nodded, suspicion worming its way into her gut, unable to deny that Miroku had a point. "Kagome...don't you worry that it's a little... _too_ beautiful? No rust. No signs of decay. It looks too new for it to be a ruin…"

"It was buried under the sand," she explained, shaking her head in disagreement. "We could get it looked at...but that will take time," she reasoned. "I don't think it's new. Look at the shape of these letters," she continued, tenderly running the tips of her fingers over the deep, thick lettering. It was almost a caress...like she was greeting an old friend. "This is the oldest form of Atlantian writing we know of, Sango. And it's in _cursive_. It's... _breathtaking_."

"And possibly a replica," Miroku reasoned.

"We aren't the only ones who know what their writing looked like," Sango agreed.

Kagome knew they were right. It _was_ in suspiciously good shape...but...

Kagome suddenly felt the whole boat shake, as if something had just rammed into its side. She swiped out with searching fingers, desperately trying to grab a hold of something to steady herself. A second tremor ran through the boat, and her hand just barely missed the siding. Then she watched as the world turned upside down, the deep blue of the ocean over her head as the sky was suddenly at her feet. She felt the water envelope her, the air knocked from her lungs as she plummeted into the sea. She vaguely heard Sango and Miroku scream her name...vaguely felt the sword still clenched between her fingers.

She was completely disoriented, trying to figure out what had just happened. Her brain was still trying to play catch up when she saw the long, sinew tail of a silver shark.

_Fuck!_

Her brain froze her in place, going completely blank as she watched the tail head towards the opposite side of the boat. What should she do? What should she _do?_ Did she stay still? Did she try and hide? Get back to the boat?

Oh god…

Oh _god!_

Was this how she died?

She watched as the boat rocked one more time as the shark attacked it again for some unknown reason, and she absently felt the sword slip from her fingers.

_Sango!_

She prayed she was huddled up on the floor, riding this out.

She could feel the salt water burn her eyes and she closed them for a moment, trying to find some relief as she attempted to slow her racing heart and just... _think!_ Panicking wouldn't help her. She had to get back to the boat, that's what she decided. It was her best chance, and she wasn't that far from it.

They would just...wait it out and go back for the sword. It wasn't going anywhere.

Kagome began to hastily swim back to the vessel when the shark rounded the corner.

Or...what...what should have been a shark. She found herself sharply exhaling, all traces of oxygen leaving her lungs at the sight before her. This... _creature_...the one who was attacking their boat...it wasn't a shark. It was a myth. A fairytale. Something that shouldn't exist…

And yet…

Despite the burning in her eyes, she was as sure of what she was seeing just as sure as she knew her name was Kagome.

This...was a mermaid.

Or rather, a _merman_.

And he was swimming straight for her!

She found herself entranced by him as he circled her. Long, flowing silver hair...dangerous golden eyes...a thick, jagged, purple line on each cheek...ropy, muscular form...she was in awe. He circled her once in full, his silver tresses swirling around them as he moved from behind her and reached out to take her hand and pull her front flush to his chest. She absently felt the other play with strands of her swirling black hair.

She found herself utterly captivated by him. By those glowing, golden eyes. By the power she felt exuding from him...by his very _existence_.

[(Thunderpot Tumblr)](https://thunderpot.tumblr.com/post/617421597801840640/clearwillow-oh-my-god-you-added-more-fish-i)

He gently cupped the back of her head, encouraging her to tilt it up as he lowered his and pressed their lips together. She was shocked. Was...was he kissing her? A hand came up to her jaw, encouraging her to part her lips. She felt him blow air into her mouth.

Not a kiss.

In a weird, twisted way...she was almost disappointed. His lips felt so good against hers, and she liked the way he held her tightly to him. Or...maybe she just liked being held.

That was probably it.

She felt water rush past them as he brought them to the surface, and she gasped in surprise when they breached.

Kagome blinked rapidly, her eyes burning again as tears welled up in her eyes and her jaw lowered in surprise. The once silver haired merman now had black hair and cerulean eyes. In fact...he looked _just_ like that man from a few days ago. The one with the mysterious accent who had been eavesdropping on them! The one with the beautiful golden fleck in his eye. The only difference now was that this _merman_ had the two stripes across his cheekbones.

"Y-You!" she sputtered, and his gaze sharpened.

"I told you not to come here," he darkly reminded her. "Leave this place, Kagome. Take your friend and leave. Forget what you've seen - what you've found - and go home."

"Is that a threat?" she demanded, her own blue eyes simmering with anger.

His tongue kissed his teeth, and his face hardened.

"It's a warning. Forget me. Forget the sword. Forget everything. Go _home_ , Kagome."

With that, he disappeared by diving back down into the depths of the ocean.

Forget him?

Forget the _sword_?

 _The sword!_ She lost it! And she was _sure_ he had taken it!

_Fuck!_

* * *

A/N:

A birthday present to Thunderpot – Happy birthday Boo! This was supposed to be 60 pages. Apparently, that was hilarious to everyone because _ME? UNDER 60 PAGES?!_

Yeah.

Everyone was right.

Check out Thunderpot's work on [Tumblr](https://thunderpot.tumblr.com/) and [Pixiv](https://www.pixiv.net/en/users/1847627)! This story was inspired by her work for mermay! Art embedded into the fic on AO3. Art used with permission.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. The rest is mine.

* * *

Chapter 2

"Mermaids can't be real," Sango scoffed, sipping on a beer outside of their favorite beach front restaurant.

"You are searching for Atlantis...and yet, you don't believe in mermaids?" Miroku smirked, his fingers absently toying with the neck of his bottle.

"Because mermaids are just a childhood fairytale! Atlantis is real. We have hard proof that it existed. Ruins, texts, artifacts…"

"And what do you call what happened to us today, eh?" Miroku pressed, and Kagome did her best to focus on the conversation the two were having. It was hard, though. They had grabbed a few beers after returning to land to try and figure out what to do next, picking a beautiful spot to heal their emotional wounds.

What she hadn't expected was to be constantly captivated by the sea. It called to her and beckoned her forward. It whispered in her ear about all of the treasures hiding within its blue depths.

Like that merman.

Forget him? Forget the sword?

She couldn't. She'd never be able to. That sword was proof of everything they had been searching for...and he…

He was an enigma. An enigma she was desperate to learn more about.

"If you want hard proof, you have it. He attacked my boat, threw your friend overboard, stole your treasure...and what's more, your friend sits here before you and tells you what she saw with her own eyes!" he tsked, picking up his bottle and gesturing towards Kagome. "Mermaids have been rumored to walk amongst us since the dawn of time. What Kagome says is true," he adamantly insisted.

"You have stories of them?" Kagome pressed, her attention suddenly back on Miroku. If he knew more about her enigma, she wanted to hear it.

"Of course. We are an island people, Kagome. People come to us to search for Atlantis, as you both are...to enjoy the wonders of Greece...and for the waters."

"Tell me," Kagome breathed, her attention no longer on the sparkling blue sea but on the sparkling blue eyes of their skipper. "Please?"

"Your encounter with this merman really affected you, didn't it?" Miroku observed, giving her a soft smile.

"He stole my artifact and nearly caused me to drown," she snorted. "I'm more than a little 'affected' by him," Kagome replied wryly, and Miroku leaned back and held his hands up in the air defensively.

"My apologies," he chuckled weakly. "I'll happily tell you. It's said that when our people were still young and Zeus still visited to sweep maidens off of their feet, mermen walked amongst us. They were silver tongued devils that were sent by Poseidon himself to lure sailors to sea. They spoke of treasures and bounties untold and spread rumors of fertile, new land that was ripe to be conquered and cultivated.

Of course, this was nothing more than a lie. It was a ruse for men to make offerings to Poseidon...and if their offerings were deemed insufficient, then these mermen would lead ships astray and to the rocks where their women lay in waiting. Beautiful sirens would handle the rest...their sweet song swaying even the strongest man's will until their ship had rammed into the rocks waiting for them.

Then...then, their women would hunt. They'd slaughter them all and share the meat with their men, and they would feast on the bones of our people.

Widows would crumble to their knees and weep in the streets when they learned that their men would never return - husbands, fathers, sons...all dead because of Poseidon's disappointment. After one tragedy too many, rumors started. If you saw a new man with a golden glimmer in his eye, he was a merman. No chances would be taken. Mobs would gather, and they would bind the man, tie him to a pillar by the sea, and douse him with sea water.

If he remained a man, he would be freed.

If his legs melted into a tail, they would leave him there exposed in the sun until his skin rotted and turned to salt. In the end, nothing would be left behind but his bones."

Kagome felt her entire face pale, and Miroku laughed.

"Myths, Kagome. They were believed to be myths."

"Myths with some truth to them," she replied, completely appalled. "I've seen a merman. I know Atlantis is real. Myths might be a pretty word for an old story, but these old stories have an undeniable truth to them."

Her eyes widened as a terrible thought flashed through her mind. "He could have eaten me!"

"He could have...yet, he clearly had no interest in it. Perhaps he is smitten with you," the skipper smirked.

Smitten? Hardly...yet...if the myth was true, he could have done just that. He seemed more interested in keeping her away from Atlantis than he did about eating her, though…

Kagome's lips pursed and she dug a pen out of her bag, snatching a paper napkin from the center of the table as a thought entered her head.

"Kagome?" Sango questioned, raising a brow as she watched her friend close her eyes and sink deep into her thoughts.

Kagome slowly drew out the text on the sword as best as she could from memory, and asked Sango if she thought it looked right.

"Yeah...I think it looks the same. Kagome, where are you going with this?"

"Sango, what does it say?" Kagome pressed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Sango's brow furrowed as she slowly translated the word, and Miroku watched on in clear fascination. Suddenly, Sango's brows jumped and she looked back up at Kagome in awe.

"Guardian," she whispered, and Kagome nodded her head emphatically.

"Guardian. He protects Atlantis. He knows where it is! Sango...we have to find him again!"

* * *

Getting permits to return to the same dive spot where they had seen the merman had thankfully been easy, and they had continued their search as soon as they had them. It had been nearly three weeks since the incident, and Kagome was fighting to not lose hope.

He had been so adamant about getting her to leave Atlantis alone the first few times, and now...he was gone? She couldn't help but feel a little...sad.

Sure, the merman set her blood on fire in an annoying and frustrating way...but he had answers she would give almost anything for. She had gone back to that same cave repeatedly. She had searched its depths until she knew it almost as well as she knew the back of her hand, and she was still no closer to finding Atlantis or the man.

A small voice inside was telling her to give up. She had been given her chance, and she had blown it.

A louder voice was screaming at her to keep going, though. She was _so_ close...and she had found irrefutable proof that she was going in the right direction! She just needed to stay the course, and she was sure she would find him again.

She had to.

She _needed_ to.

Kagome sat on the pier, her feet dangling in the shallow, salty water. She couldn't help but stare out at the ocean and it's shimmering depths as she raised the skirt of her sundress above her knees to avoid getting the hem wet, even if that meant getting the fabric wrinkled.

The secrets the sea held beneath that beautiful surface...what she wouldn't give to explore them more fully...what she wouldn't give to talk to him about it...about Atlantis…

She sighed as her phone started ringing in her purse, and she picked it up to look at the display before answering it.

Sango.

" _Hey, where are you?"_

"Out on the pier. I just...needed to take a walk and think."

" _Don't think too hard…"_ Sango joked lightly. _"I was gonna go grab dinner. In the mood to join me?"_

"Nah...I think I need some more time out here. Would you bring me back something, though? You know what I like," she smiled weakly into her phone.

" _Of course,"_ Sango warmly replied. _"Is everything ok?"_

"Yeah!" Kagome replied, her voice falsely chipper. "Just need fresh air and a minute alone, is all."

" _Ok,"_ she replied uncertainly. _"I'm here if you need me_."

"I know...thanks, babe," she soothed, hanging up after saying their farewells.

Kagome lifted her foot out of the water, watching droplets bead on her toes before dropping back into the ocean and repeated the process a few more times. It was oddly captivating...hypnotic, even...to the point that it distracted her from realizing that she was no longer alone.

"You should be gone," a familiar voice intoned behind her, making her whirl around and press her hand to her chest in surprise.

" _You!"_ she gasped, squinting up at the merman. "You're back!"

"I never left," he snorted, moving to sit beside her on the pier. She found herself studying him more closely than she had before. His clothes were old - out of date, faded, and a little frayed around the edges. She wondered how he had come by them. Style and fashion clearly wasn't important to him. "Why are you looking for me?" the merman pressed. "I told you to leave. What will it take, eh?"

"You _know_ I've been looking for you?" she sputtered indignantly. He merely smirked in response, closing his eyes and leaning back onto his arms. It was like he was taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of the setting sun on his skin.

"I know quite a bit, Kagome," he finally said after a moment.

"Like my name? Won't you at least tell me yours? It's only fair…"

"You don't need my name," he snorted. "Besides...there's no such thing as fair in this world, anyway. Why haven't you left?"

"Give me your name, and I'll tell you why I haven't left," she shot back, and he turned his head to wryly lift a brow at her. "Nothing in this world is fair, right?"

The merman's face widened into a genuine grin, and she felt her heart race a little in response.

"Inuyasha," he whispered, the word seemingly foreign in his mouth. His lips and tongue clumsily formed the word, and she absently wondered when he had last spoken it.

"Inuyasha," she repeated, trying his name for herself. He then closed his eyes, his expression hardening and becoming indiscernible.

"Why are you still here, Kagome?" he asked one more time, his voice stern and telling her with its timbre that he was not to be trifled with.

"You mean you don't know?" she teased, ignoring his unspoken warning. She watched the muscles in his jaw twitch, and she sighed. Apparently there was no lightening the mood, was there? "I'm looking for Atlantis," she sighed.

"Why haven't you left? I told you to leave," he pressed, unamused with how circular their conversation was becoming.

"Are you really a merman?" she countered, and he leaned forward onto his arms and groaned in frustration.

"You need me to jump into the water and prove it to you?" he snapped, and her brows rose in surprise. "Just leave, Kagome. Please. I'm begging you. Stop looking for Atlantis! Just leave it alone and _go home!"_ Kagome watched as he roughly pushed himself to his feet and began to leave, walking back up the pier. She ran after him, not bothering with her shoes. After three weeks of searching for him, he had finally reappeared. Like hell she was going to just...just...just let him _disappear_ again!

"Inuyasha!" she called, giving chase after him. "Inuyasha, wait! Please! Let's talk!" she pleaded, but he didn't stop...not until she had somehow managed to catch up to him, panting. Her nails lightly dug into his skin and he paused, wincing in slight discomfort.

"W-why d-do you wa-want me g-gone?" she huffed, trying to catch her breath. He was tall and his gait was significantly faster than her own, even at a casual pace.

"Why do you want to find it so badly?" he countered, and she searched his face nervously.

"Do you eat humans?"

His eyes widened before he roughly pulled away from her, his face twisting in anger and his cerulean eyes simmering dangerously.

"No," he snapped. "I don't eat people. What other myths have you heard about us, eh? Do you think we're cannibals too? That we take your bones to build our watery homes?"

"I-I'm sorry!" she sputtered. "I didn't mean to offend you! I know nothing about you other than what Miroku told me-"

"-your friend must be a simpleton, then," he snarled.

"Please...I…" she sighed, rubbing her fingers over her eyes. "I just...I wanted to ask you to dinner, and then I remembered what he said...and I started wondering why you didn't kill me, because maybe you ate people. It didn't make much sense, and I-"

"-you wanted to eat dinner with me?" he replied, clearly baffled. She smiled shyly at him, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"You have answers I want...and I have answers you want. I thought...maybe we could agree to a fair trade of information?"

He said nothing as he appeared to think over her proposition, but it was hard to tell. His face was so emotionless - it was nearly impossible to read. Only his eyes gave her some insight into what was going on in that head of his.

"One dinner," he agreed. "And they'd better have fish on the menu."

She couldn't tell if he was serious or joking.

Either way...she needed to call Sango and tell her to not bring back anything for her after all.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for all the love for this guys! You all RULE! And as always...Thanks to Saucy for the edits!

Till next time!

-LL


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. The rest is mine.

* * *

Chapter 3

Kagome brought Inuyasha to her favorite local restaurant, nervously fidgeting as the maitre'd handed them menus. She awkwardly thanked the woman and pretended to look at the menu, but also noticed that he hadn't even bothered.

"They have fish," she absently noted, and he laughed. It was a sweet sound, and one that made her put her menu down and look at him. His eyes were warm - the warmest they had ever been, sparkling like the ocean she could see from their seat in the restaurant.

"I know - I come here quite a bit when I'm on land," he grinned, and she dropped the menu.

"You come on land a lot?"

Her question seemed to knock the lightheartedness from him, and she watched his face grow a bit more serious. He picked up his water glass and took a sip from it as he gathered his thoughts.

"I think we need to establish some rules for this conversation, Kagome."

 _Rules?_ It was a _conversation!_

"What - I can't ask your mother's name?" she teased, trying to keep the tone a bit lighter.

"Izayoi," he replied sadly, and she was surprised he had given her an answer to that. "I think we need to keep this fair. For every question of mine you answer, I answer one of yours."

Kagome ran her fingertips up and down the side of her water glass, absently wiping away the condensation as his proposal swam around in her head. It sounded fair, sure...but would he really answer all of her questions? Did she really have a choice, though? She _wanted_ to talk to him. Dinner was her idea to begin with.

"I can agree to that," she finally decided, "But how can I trust that you will answer me honestly?"

"I guess we'll just need to trust each other blindly, won't we?" he replied wryly as a waitress came to take their orders and menus before leaving them in an awkward silence again.

Kagome felt Inuyasha's gaze on her, examining her...sizing her up, even. She clenched her jaw and returned it, her eyes roaming across his face. His strong features, his sharp jaw, his dark brow, his deep eyes - blue save for that one fleck of gold. His eyes were so beautiful...

"You have nice eyes," she found herself saying before she could stop herself, breaking the silence that had settled around them. "I like how your eye has that little bit of gold in it."

"T-thank you," he sputtered, looking away from her. It was almost as if he were unfamiliar with someone complimenting them. "They're a sign of my heritage."

"Being a merman?" she whispered, her eyes nervously looking around and worrying someone might overhear them.

"No...being a guardian. Only the guardians have my eyes," he replied, still unable to meet her gaze. Was he trying to hide his eyes from her now? "Gold underwater...blue above…"

"Is that why your left one has gold in it?" she asked, resting her chin on a propped up fist.

"One question, remember?" he tsked as he shook his head, and she resisted the urge to groan. That wasn't even a _real_ question. Well...ok, sure...in a way, it was...but not _really._ It was more like...a _half_ question.

"Yes," she sighed. "What's your question?"

"Why won't you leave?"

"Not beating around the bush, huh?" she teased, but he didn't laugh. He didn't even smile. There went that casual, light tone she had hoped they could maintain for a while at least.

"I don't see the point," he shrugged casually, taking another sip from his water.

"I can't leave," she finally sighed. "Atlantis...it's my dream and my future. It's the _world's_ future."

He arched a brow. He was silently asking her to elaborate, but her lips simply quirked up into a knowing smile. If he was going to give short, surface answers...so was she. She watched the aggravation spread across his face as he caught on to her new game.

"Does your eye have gold in it because you're a guardian, or for a different reason?" she asked again, oddly determined to get an answer from him.

"You can ask me anything, yet you fixate on my eyes," Inuyasha mused, leaning back in his chair. "All guardians of Atlantis have the same gene," he finally admitted in a sigh. "If you look in our eyes, you'll see we all have the same golden fleck. It's how we're identified."

She knew it! He had just admitted that he was a guardian of Atlantis...which meant that he knew where Atlantis was! She was barely able to contain her squeal of excitement and keep her face neutral.

"Why is Atlantis your future?"

"Well…" she slowly began, running her fingers through her bangs. "Ever since I was a child, I have heard tales of Atlantis. The power and knowledge and technology...as well as their downfall. Our planet is...well...it's not in the best shape," she mused sadly.

"I was a scientist for years. I researched renewable energies...but...there are so many out there who don't believe in the need for them, and funding was...hard to aquire. So...one day...I turned to the past. I tried to see where we went wrong...what we could do to make things better...and I just somehow remembered the story of Atlantis. I started researching it in my free time. I admittedly became a bit obsessed with it, and it has become my life. My mission."

"You think Atlantis can save you?" he pressed, arching an eyebrow. This time she was the one that smirked.

"One question at a time, remember?"

He groaned in frustration, and she couldn't suppress her giggle even if she had wanted to.

"These were _your_ rules!" she reminded him, and she watched his face break out into an unwilling smile.

He was rather handsome, but when he smiled...she swore her heart skipped a beat.

"They were," he relented, and her smile widened.

"Do you know where Atlantis is?"

She watched his body stiffen, his posture straightening as his grin melted away and his lips pressed into a hard line.

"Yes," he breathed out, and she felt her jaw drop ever so slightly.

He knew. He _knew!_ And he _admitted it_!

"What do you think you will find down there?" he pressed, immediately ruining her moment of sheer excitement.

"I told you - knowledge and technology. Why do you want me to leave?"

"Because if you go to Atlantis, you won't find what you're looking for. The only thing that awaits you is death."

 _Death?_ This had to be a scare tactic!

"What do you think a guardian's role is?"

"I…" That was a good question. What _was_ it? "I don't know," she replied honestly.

"Kagome...I have two jobs as a guardian. I keep humans out, and something else _in_."

"In?"

"The Kraken."

She wanted to laugh. She really did...but the seriousness in his eyes told her that he wasn't joking.

"The _Kraken?_ Why _wouldn't_ that be real?" she groaned. "You're real. Atlantis is real. Why wouldn't monsters be real too?"

She watched his brows raise in surprise, and she wasn't sure what she had done to warrant that kind of reaction from him.

"Aren't I a monster?"

"No," she smiled gently. "You aren't." She watched his whole body relax before adding, "Well, that's not entirely true. You did try to kill me!"

"Scare you! To keep you away!"

"Mmm...how is that working so far?" she teased, her eyes sparkling in the dim light of the restaurant.

"Not nearly as well as it should be. You're harder than most," he smirked, his posture relaxing again.

"I'm more stubborn than most," she giggled.

"More beautiful than most," she heard him murmur quietly to himself as their dinner arrived, and she felt her eyes widen in shock. He was attracted to her? She was baffled, all things considered...but she knew what she had heard. Well...maybe she should try turning the charm on, then. Having a mysterious, handsome merman interested in you wasn't the worst thing in the world...however, he clearly hadn't meant for her to overhear that.

"So," Kagome began, awkwardly picking at her food. It was hard to shake the butterflies in her stomach. Knowing he liked her left her feeling...oddly giddy and nervous all at the same time. "You knew I was looking for you...why didn't you find me sooner? Trying to play hard to get? You don't need to - I was already intrigued."

There. A joke. Something to lighten the mood again. Hopefully. Or else, she was an idiot.

"No," he blushed. "I hoped that if I left you alone, you'd get the hint and leave...but as you said, you're stubborn," he smirked, his eyes dancing in amusement.

"What can I say - my mother didn't raise a quitter."

"No, she didn't."

The rest of their dinner was spent not discussing Atlantis, but rather, their pasts - who they were and who they had hoped to be. Childhood memories, likes and dislikes, and even...eventually...past relationships.

She was surprised by how quickly everything had morphed from what was essentially an interrogation to a date.

She was even more surprised by how much she liked it, and by how much she liked _him_ once his guard was down. Once he stopped trying to be _Guardian of Atlantis_ , he was sweet and a surprisingly good listener.

He listened to her talk about her childhood. She told him about how she had grown up in Queens, and how her father had passed when she was a child and her brother was barely old enough to even remember him. Her grandfather had moved in afterwards to help raise them. She had fallen in love with STEM at an early age, and she had met Sango thanks to the science club in her school. She then told him about how they had both risked it all to become what essentially amounted to treasure hunters. Finally, she told him about how she had dated Hojo for two years before discovering that he had been cheating on her for the last year and a half of them.

"He was a fool," Inuyasha murmured in his thick accent.

"He's a shitty guy," she agreed. "But it's just as well. I'd rather find out while we were dating than marry him and discover he's a shitty guy in ten years."

"Would you have?" Inuyasha pressed, his eyes gentle but curious.

"Maybe," she shrugged as he led her out of the restaurant. "Doesn't really matter now, though. I know where he stands," she mused as Inuyasha led her down toward the pier. Kagome inhaled deeply as water crashed into the rocks, sighing in contentment.

"You look at peace," Inuyasha observed after a moment, and she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I feel at peace when I'm by the ocean. It just...soothes my soul," she explained, looking out at the black waters before them and gazing at the moon casting beautiful silver light onto it.

"She's very deceiving," he commented. "She _is_ beautiful...but she's also deadly."

"The Kraken?"

"Among other beasts…"

The way he said it...with such morose eyes...she wanted to ask him more. She wanted to know more about what else was down there...and she wanted to take him into her arms and comfort him.

That last thought came as a complete shock to her, and she felt her back straighten almost immediately at that realization.

"Come on," she decided, grabbing his hand and pulling him down toward the water. "Watch the ocean with me," she requested, drawing him towards the end of the pier. She slipped off her shoes and hiked her skirt up to her thighs, sitting down on the weathered dock.

Inuyasha lazily sat down beside her, watching as she lowered her toes into the warm Mediterainian water.

"What's it like to live in the ocean?" she asked, swirling her toes around in the tide.

"It's not much different than living on land. Just...wetter."

She turned and shot him a genuine smile, her eyes dancing in the moonlight.

"I always heard it's better down where it's wetter…"

He shot her a perplexed look, her _Little Mermaid_ joke completely lost on him.

"So...you never told me. Do you come on land a lot?"

"More than most of my people. It's easier for me."

"Oh?"

"I…" he began with difficulty, looking for the words as he leaned back onto his arms and sighed as he stared up at the moon above them. "My mother was human. My father was a Guardian. He saw her in a market one day and fell in love with her. They had me not even two years after they met."

"You're half human?" she gasped, surprised.

"More so than most of my people, at least. It means that I _need_ to spend time on land...even if I might not want to, at the time. It's allowed me to be a better Guardian, however. I've become good at identifying people who want to locate Atlantis, and I'm able to learn their plans and deter them. Most of the time," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"You won't be able to deter me," she smirked, and he closed his eyes with a heavy sigh.

"What will it take to get you to leave and go home, Kagome?"

"You won't be able to convince me," she shrugged. "I know it's out there now. That's enough for me to keep going."

"You're really insufferable, you know that?" he chuckled. "Most people hear the word Kraken and they run for the hills."

"I hear it and I say 'I'd better bring my camera,'" she teased, and he groaned.

"Why doesn't it scare you? Don't you know what it's capable of?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess we should just add that to the list of things that's wrong with me."

He was disturbingly silent then, and she turned to look at him. That had been a mistake. His eyes were smoldering - they were burning her with just a look. She felt her skin flush, and she glanced away before tentatively looking back at him.

"There's nothing wrong with you," he told her firmly, his voice rough as gravel.

"You don't think so?"

"I think you're getting in over your head...but I don't think there's anything wrong with you."

She felt herself smile coyly at him before she bit her lip and looked away and back to the ocean.

"Why don't you have those stripes on your cheeks anymore?" she asked, trying to forget the way he was looking at her.

"Because I'm not in the water. When I'm in the ocean, they appear. When I'm completely dry, they are the last thing that changes."

"I'd love to see it happen sometime," she absently commented, and his eyes widened.

"I…"

"I'm sorry! Was that too personal?"

"It's fine," he breathed out. "It's…" he seemed to debate something before finally standing. Kagome watched with wide eyes as he tugged his shirt off, dropping it to the worn wood.

"I-Inuyasha?" she sputtered as his hands began tugging at his belt, his feet toeing off his shoes and socks.

"You said you wanted to see it," he explained, pushing his pants down. Kagome let out a yelp of surprise, turning to look away when it became all too clear that he planned to completely strip.

"I do!" she quickly reassured, "but perhaps some warning would have been nice! I could have at least turned around first!"

"There's no need," he laughed. "I feel no shame over my body," he explained as the rest of his clothing fell to the dock. "I'm going to get in now," he warned her, and she squeaked out her understanding.

She felt the vibrations of his feet slapping against the wooden dock as he ran across it. The barest glimpse of his tan flesh caught her eye as he jumped into the sea below, droplets splashing upwards from the force of his body colliding with the water. She found herself hurriedly tucking her legs under her as she leaned as far forward as she could. Her eyes were straining in the darkness to find him, but she couldn't...not until he finally poked his head out from the water. She yelped in surprise, not expecting the violent splash as he unexpectedly reemerged.

"Inuyasha!" she yelped, pressing a hand over her racing heart as he smiled jovially at her. He had a boyish look in his blue eyes...almost a mischievous one.

"Did I startle you?" he asked, his accent thick but his words light. He jumped up enough to grab the wooden dock on either side of her legs, helping to keep himself in place as he raised himself a bit out of the water to look her in the eye. He was hovering halfway between the dock and the ocean. If she were a more poetic person, she would have found amusement in how he was keeping himself between two worlds...but unfortunately, her mind was elsewhere. The move exposed his entire torso to her prying eyes, and she felt them linger on two large slits on either side of his rib cage.

"Inuyasha," she breathed, unable to remove her eyes from them as she watched them open and close a few times with every breath. They shuddered, almost as if his body were trying to figure out how to breathe.

He followed the line of her gaze to his ribs and blushed.

"Gills," he explained. "I don't need them when I'm above water…but...it takes a minute still to completely transition."

She glanced up at his face and was taken aback by the nervousness she saw in it.

"They're amazing," she breathed. "Can I...may I…" she asked hesitantly, wanting to touch him yet unable to find the words. She didn't need to, though. He already knew. He jerkily nodded his head, closing his eyes as her hand touched the wet skin of his cheek.

His stripes had returned. One thick, jagged, light plum stripe adorned each cheek, and she tentatively moved her fingers and gently grazed against his skin there. His eyes fluttered shut, and he let out a shaky breath that caused her to quickly snatch her hand away from his skin.

"It's fine," he soothed, reaching out to take her hand. She watched his other arm tremble slightly from the effort it took to keep himself partially suspended in the air like he was. He placed her hand back on his cheek, almost leaning into her touch as his eyes closed and her fingers gently rubbed his flesh.

"It feels the same as the rest of your skin."

"To you," he breathed, causing her brow to furrow in slight confusion.

"What does it feel like to you?" she asked, continuing to move her fingers across his cheek to trace the jagged lines of his mark.

"It feels... _good_ ," he blushed, and she tilted her head to the side for a moment before understanding dawned on her.

 _Good_.

Perhaps... _too_ good.

"Soothing," he elaborated before she could jump to further conclusions. "My mother used to rub them when I was upset or sick...even if they weren't visible, they feel the same..." he trailed off, and she felt herself relax. Her mind had taken a very... _unexpected_ path.

"Do you feel more relaxed now?" she asked, continuing to trace it.

"I feel very comfortable with you, Kagome," he admitted, and she wanted to believe he meant more than just what she was doing to his cheeks.

"Good," she whispered, smiling lightly as she kept her hand on his cheek for a moment more before trailing her fingertips down to his shoulder. They traveled across his pectoral muscles and towards his gills, and she paused to glancing back up into his eyes.

"It's ok," he encouraged, taking a shaky breath. She watched them flutter open and closed again with the movement.

"Are you sure?" she pressed, and he nodded his head.

"Yeah. I am."

She nervously brought her fingers to them, skimming over his skin in the lightest of touches as he held his breath.

"They feel... _strange._ "

He barked out a laugh at that, and she watched his gill open again to expose the red tissue within.

"Good strange or bad strange?"

"Just... _strange_. It's like...it just feels different. Like a flap of skin."

"It _is_ a flap of skin, Kagome," he laughed as she ran her fingers across the flaps in the opposite direction and he sucked in a deep breath.

"Inuyasha?"

His face twisted up, making him look like he was suddenly uncomfortable.

"It's fine...just...don't rub me like that?" he requested, his lips quirking up in an attempt to assuage her of any guilt she was feeling. "It's a little painful when you do that."

"Oh!" she gasped, moving her hand away from his torso and to her mouth, droplets of saltwater dripping past her parted lips. The taste made her eyes widen in embarrassment, and she moved her hand down to her lap. She was unable to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry…"

"It's fine," he soothed, cupping her cheek and encouraging her eyes to meet his. "Really. You didn't know," he whispered, placing his hand back on the dock as she watched his eyes dart back and forth across hers.

"Ok," she whispered. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, and he quickly followed her example.

"I like it when you smile," he admitted bashfully, his eyes moving to her lips.

"I like smiling," she replied, unsure of what else to say as his face softened. His head leaned closer to hers, and she felt her heart race in her chest as she tilted hers to the side. She wasn't thinking. She didn't _want_ to think. Didn't care about anything - not about the fact that she was trapped between a merman's arms, or even that she was _with_ a merman. She just wanted a second where she was a woman...with an attractive man...who liked her and wanted to kiss her…

...and she really wanted to kiss him back.

She could feel his breath on her skin, their lips so close that she could almost feel them pressed together when she heard her phone ring in her purse.

His head snapped away from her. It was almost as if he had realized that he was about to make a horrible mistake, and she tried to not let the sting of rejection well up in her chest. Instead, she busied herself with digging through her purse to locate her phone with Sango's name scrolling across the top.

"I should…"

"Yeah," he nodded awkwardly, lowering himself back into the water. "I'll give you some privacy," he smiled weakly, dipping back under the water to disappear from sight.

She wanted to tell him that he didn't have to leave, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. He was already gone.

Kagome sighed and slid her thumb across the bottom of her phone, unlocking it to greet her friend.

" _Oh, thank God,"_ Sango sighed into the phone. _"Where are you?! I've been worried sick! You should have been back hours ago!"_

"I'm fine, Sango," she soothed, trying to calm her irate friend. "Really. I'm out at the pier."

" _Still?"_ Sango asked hesitantly.

"No - again. I came back with him after dinner. He…" She wanted to tell Sango everything - about how he was in the water right now with his tail and all, waiting for her to finish her conversation...and how he had shown her his true self. He had let her touch him. He had almost kissed her…

Now wasn't the time or the place, though. She didn't know if Sango would understand. Inuyasha didn't exactly have a sterling reputation with them at the moment, and she was a bit more forgiving than Sango ever was…

"He's very nice, Sango," she said instead, and she heard her friend sigh on the other side of the phone.

" _I'd feel better if I were there. Should I come find you?"_

"No!" she all but yelled into the phone, and she felt her cheeks flush. That had been a rather... _strong_ response to a well intended question. "Sorry...everything is fine, Sango. I promise. I'm probably going to head back soon as it is," she reasoned, and she could practically _feel_ Sango's skepticism on the other side of the phone.

" _Ok,"_ Sango relented after a beat. _"If you aren't home within the hour, though_ — _"_

"You have my permission to burn down the whole island until you find me," Kagome soothed, bidding her friend farewell before ending the call.

Oh...what sort of mess was she getting herself into this time? Nothing could ever be simple for her, could it? Oh no...instead of staying in a lab and doing things the proper way, she had decided to go out hunting for _Atlantis_...and then she went ahead and found a _merman_ who told her the _Kraken_ was real as well. And then...she had almost kissed him... _and on top of all of that…_ she was actually disappointed when they _didn't_ kiss.

God, she was really making some life choices, wasn't she?

"Are you ok?" a gentle voice called from below, bringing her out of her thoughts.

Inuyasha's head had popped back up above the surface, and she watched in fascination as the hair above water remained black, while the hair under water was silver.

"Yeah," she grinned, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Sango just wanted to make sure you didn't murder me."

"I wouldn't murder you," he whispered softly, looking off to the side. "I just didn't know what else to do. You were about to run off with my sword and—"

"—Wait," Kagome interrupted, her heart beating erratically within her chest. "That was _your_ sword?"

Inuyasha merely nodded his head as he continued to tread water.

"Yeah. That's one of the reasons I couldn't let you take it."

She had a million questions buzzing around in her head, and she was dying to ask all of them...but Sango would be downright _irate_ if she didn't go back.

"I wish I didn't have to leave," she admitted, watching as Inuyasha's gaze lowered in what she at least _thought_ was disappointment. "Inuyasha...would you...I'd like it if you would have dinner with me again tomorrow."

His brows rose in surprise, a small teasing smile gracing his lips.

"This didn't scare you off?" he joked, gesturing down toward his hidden body.

"Call it a fatal flaw...but...I'm too fascinated to be afraid of you. I don't think you could scare me off, anyway. You already tried that, remember?"

His lips tugged up into a large smile, giving her an extra boost of confidence.

"So I'll meet you here at sunset tomorrow for dinner, ok?" she decided, pushing herself to stand and slipping her shoes back on.

"I didn't say yes, you know!"

"Yeah...and call me crazy...but I think you'll be here. I think you're as captivated by me as I am by you," she decided, giggling as he just sputtered indignantly in response.

"Tomorrow," she called over her shoulder, making her way down the pier. "Sunset!"

* * *

A/N:

Thanks as always for the amazing reviews, and thanks to Saucy for the awesome edits!

New fic coming your way in the near future – a birthday present for our wonderful Mama Bear! (and this one is almost finished, so I'm not posting until it IS for once)

_**Title: Picking Up the Pieces** _

**_Summary: Kagome and Inuyasha have both lost their spouses due to different calamities. As the parents of newborns, they now find themselves coming together to raise their children through sheer necessity, and learn to create a new family from the ashes of tragedy._ **


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